Wird / Dhikr Lesson

Wird is like medication taken every day under a doctor’s supervision. The most effective medication for the disease of ghaflah (heedlessness) is the dhikr performed in the form of wird. The target in tasawwuf is to awake the heart from ghaflah and bond it to almighty Allah, thus achieving eternal peace. The primary – and easiest – way of achieving this is to occupy the heart with constant dhikr. Dhikr is the easiest and quickest way of bonding the heart to almighty Allah. The greatest merit of dhikr is that Allah Ta’ala Himself remembers the servant who remembers Him, exclusively and in the Divine Presence. The following glad tidings given to us by the Lord of the Worlds is more than enough to convey the merits of dhikr:

“Therefore remember me and I will remember you” [Baqara 2:152]

This qudsi hadith gives glad tidings to the people of dhikr:

“When my servant remembers Me, I am together with him. If my servant remembers Me in secret I remember him secretly, if he remembers Me in a group, I mention him in a better group (His angels)” [1]

The following ayah describes men of true understanding:

“Such as remember Allah, standing, sitting, and reclining, and consider the creation of the heavens and the earth, (and say): Our Lord! Thou createdst not this in vain. Glory be to Thee! Preserve us from the doom of Fire.”[al-i Imran 3:191]

The great Mufessir Fahruddin Razi (rah): says “ A servantonly becomes a true person when he becomes lost in dhikr with the tongue, shukr (praise) with the limbs, and thoughts of the heart, thus serving Allah with his entire being.”[2]

In another ayah, Exalted Allah describes the state of those who are constantly together with Him:

“Men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned.”[an-Noor 24:37]

In his commentary, Allame Alusi (rah) explained this ayah as follows: “In Islamic society there are many ahl-i tariq (people of the path), particularly masters of Naqshband, who have reached this state of constant dhikr described in the ayah, and their greatest aim in life is the attainment of this dhikr. Dhikr has established itself in their hearts, to such an extent that they are never heedless of the remembrance of Allah.” [3]

The friends of Allah want us to attain these glad tidings through the performance of this kind of dhikr.

The Arifs have described the dhikr as the “diploma” of sainthood. The heart cannot be awakened without dhikr, and a heedless person cannot be a friend of Allah.

In one of his talks, Hadhrat Gavs-i Sânî Sayyed Abdulbaqi (q.s) said:

“Dhikr is the nourishment of the heart. The heart which does not receive nourishment will become weak, then die. It is only with dhikr that the heart is nourished, strengthened, sweetened and given spiritual life. On the other hand, haram and sins are the nourishment of the Shaytān. Committing sins weakens a person’s heart and strengthens his enemies, the nafs and Shaytān. This is why the heart, nafs and Shaytān are in constant conflict with each other.”

The Lord of the Worlds says:

“Who have believed and whose hearts have rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest !”[ar-Ra’d 13:28]

The dhikr performed in the Naqshbandi way is done secretly. There are three types of dhikr applied as wird (daily dhikr lesson). The first is qalb (heart) dhikr, the second is latayif dhikr, and the third type is nafiy and ispat dhikr.